Oracle - Corvette
After the success of the Tethys in the HAF Navy, the development of a new hull that was built around the newly produced jump drive was the obvious next step for the Terran engineers. Using what was learned from the deployment of the Tethys, the new ship was built around the Smart Modularity already in operation. Using a common internal structure, the new Oracle hull design was built to be modified easily for any new task, a key point since the Oracle is still in operation with the Explorer Division. The armor structure and the hull shape were selected more for what the outward appearance would look like instead of an actual focused intent on combat capability. This lack would lead to some unique battle situations as the hull design limited the fire arcs of the primarily coilgun armament. Larger than the Tethys, the Oracle represents lessons learned from encounters with hostile alien species and the ship makes use of a pair of plasma engines that gives the ship the same acceleration profile of the smaller Tethys. Mounting six coilguns in two calibers, but only with four turrets, the Oracle can deal out heavy damage when compared to other ship designs. The turrets are mounted with one at the end of each part of the forward hull and the other two rear mounted. The only problem that occurred was when an enemy ship maneuvered out of the forward weapon’s arc. The heavy spinal mounting made the ship well-liked by heavier fleet elements as the ship was fairly swift when compared to the Tethys and could keep up with the larger Tyche cruisers that came out later and supplanted them in the HAF Navy’s formations. One of the first ships to be fitted with the Mark I Interceptor system, the Oracle features six turret mountings that combined a light particle cannon with an ultralight coilgun. Later versions would lose the spinal heavier cannons to mount a hanger that was capable of holding up to six shuttle craft. It was this particular version of the venerable ship that faced off against House Refa. Deployed heavily with the legendary Task Force 12, Oracles made up several of the secondary squadrons in that formation that were used to support the attack on the Koulani homeworld after their attack on Terran colonies. Used again against the xenophobic Ch’Lonas, the Oracle was used as part of several fleet elements to ambush a Ch’Lonas raiding element along with the new Epimetheus Destroyers. Outclassed by the better designed Centauri warships used by the Royal Navy and House Refa’s House Navy, the Oracle was withdrawn from the HAF Navy following the war against the Centauri. A later version continues on in service with the Explorer Division and is used to support their operations. The Oracle continues on in service due to the Smart Modularity that is the hallmark of Terran ship designs. It is only due to the ship’s lack of a provision for a gravitic drive system that keeps the ship from being used continually in service with the HAF Navy. Continued upgrades does allow the Explorer Division Oracles to continue to support operations, but given the size of the Terran Hegemony, their lack of a gravitic drive system cuts down their utility when finding new systems for colonization. Technical Specifications Class: Oracle Type: Corvette Length: 300 m Mass: 250,000 tons Accelerations: 5 G Crew: 124 Small Craft: None (The Explorer Division Oracle can carry up to six shuttle craft) Power/Propulsion: 1 Type 1 Energy Captor System 2 Howard "Tangent" Plasma Engines 1 Atlas-K Dual Charge Jump Engine Weapon Systems: 2 Edison Armaments Series II Coilguns (20 mm), spinal mount (one dorsal and one ventral) 4 Edison Armaments Series I Coilguns (5 mm), turreted 6 Edison/GE Mk I Interceptors (light particle cannon/2 mm coilgun), turreted Defensive Systems: Armored Hull, up to 3 meters thickness Adamantine/Mithral composite armor throughout Mk I Interceptor System Category:Ships